I picked the right week to leave town as there aren’t a lot of shows happening in my absence. The only ones I’m sorry I’m missing:

Eleanor Friedberger is headlining at Reverb Lounge Saturday. Her new album, New View (2016, Frenchkiss Records) is a return to form for the former Fiery Furnaces front woman. I saw her play at SXSW and it ended up on top of my list for performances that year. Brooklyn band Icewater opens. $13, 9 p.m. and well worth it.

Milk Run also has a few interesting shows this week:

A new Dereck Higgins project called Chemicals plays Milk Run tonight with Steve Nichols, Kyle Jesse, and Ben Eisenberger.

Went to Feature VI last night at the Holland Center, the fund-raiser for Film Streams featuring directors Alexander Payne and David O. Russell. I love all of DOR’s movies (and some of Payne’s). Among the highlights was Russell showing off a double-colored-vinyl release of the soundtrack to his last film, the sublime American Hustle, which isn’t available until Black Friday Record Store Day, Nov. 28.

The album will include some rare ELO material. According to Madison Gate Records and Legacy Recordings, who are issuing the vinyl, “American Hustle – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack premieres ‘Stream Of Stars,’ a previously-unreleased song from the legendary Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra, Traveling Wilburys) alongside ELO’s ‘Long Black Road,’ an ultra-rare track previously available only on the Japanese release of Zoom, ELO’s final studio album.”

Russell apparently was intimately involved in the production of the vinyl release “supplying hand-written excerpts from the script, unique imagery from the film and artwork to enhance the look and feel of the album’s gatefold and sleeve.”

It is indeed an impressive looking package, though someone has to teach these guys the proper way to treat vinyl. I cringed as Russell grabbed the colored vinyl from the sleeve and then began blowing/spitting on it and brushing it with his fingers. DJ Payne cued the tracks on a portable turntable, starting with a Duke Ellington number. Nice. But when he decided to change songs, he scraped the needle across the surface, dropping it over and over until he found the groove for an ELO song. Come on, man!

As Russell said with each Payne-induced scratch, “That’s part of the fun.” I don’t think a vinyl enthusiasts like, say, Dereck Higgins would agree…

Anyway, here’s the track listing for the record, below. I’ll be writing more about Feature VI in my column in The Reader Thursday, which is actually sort of a tribute to Film Streams…

Yesterday we got word that Brendan Greene-Walsh, the long-serving booker and sound man at America’s favorite divebar / rockclub, O’Leaver’s, is hanging up the reins.

“...after over 10 years of booking shows, running sound and bartending my time at O’Leaver’s will come to a close at the end of November,” Brendan wrote. “I would like to thank you who receive these emails for all you do for music in the state of Nebraska. Whether it is posting events to calendars, writing features, reviews or interviews or simply going to shows, what you do to perpetuate culture is appreciated. The club will continue on booking great shows.”

So why’s he leaving? Brendan said the club decided the position needed to be restructured to add marketing and PR responsibilities, as well as have someone who could be at the venue during shows. In case you didn’t know, Brendan already has a full-time job at UNO. So who will take over the reins? Whoever it is has some massive shoes to fill…

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Tonight at The Slowdown it’s the return of New Pornographers. Tonight’s line-up is stellar, featuring A.C. Newman, Neko Case and Dan Bejar. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who would be a hot-selling ticket all by themselves, is opening. $28, 8 p.m.

Also tonight, The Down Under continues its recent streak of shows with punk bands Charlie Siren, Let Yourself Go, Buggy Lewis and the Rabbit Grenades, and Wake the Neighbors. $5, 7 p.m.

Former Nebraska resident now Cali-dude Jake Bellows snagged a sweet opening slot on the Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s tour, which comes to Omaha and The Slowdown May 11. Margot’s solid fan base will get more ears behind Jake’s latest album, New Ocean, released on Saddle Creek late last year.

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It was pointed out to me yesterday that The Faint’s new record already is available on vinyl. Pick up a copy at Homer’s.

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There’s a lot going on tonight…

Over at The Brothers Lounge Omaha legend Solid Goldberg a.k.a. Dave Goldberg headlines a show with KC band Burial Teens, who call their genre of music “Head-Wave.” It’s some heavy shit. Opening is the always entertaining Killer Blow. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight down the street at fabulous O’Leaver’s it’s Nashville band Roman Polanski’s Baby, which sound guy Ian says are “so f***ing good.” Don’t make me wash your mouth out with soap, Ian. Also on the bill is Manic Pixie Dream Girls and Megajoos. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And finally, Film Streams’ Hitchcock 9 Silents in Concert Repertory Series continues tonight. It features the silent films of Alfred Hitchcock brought to life sonically by live musicians. Tonight it’s the 1927 film The Lodger featuring live music by The Ghost Collective, headed by Simon Joyner.

Says Simon: “The band is made up of Mike Friedman, Megan Siebe, Kevin Donahue, myself, and my friend Michael Krassner who produced and played on all my records from Yesterday Tomorrow and In Between to Out Into the Snow. He flew in from Phoenix just for this.”

Tickets are $12 general; $10 students and $8 for Film Streams members. The curtain rises at 7 p.m. Find out more here. Should be special.

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Speaking of Film Streams, I give it a shout out in this week’s column, which talks about how television and living rooms are winning out over motion pictures and theaters. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online at thereader.com right here.

In this week’s issue of The Reader, my interview with Bob Mould in support of his upcoming performance at Saturday’s Maha Music Festival. I asked Bob about things he said when I interviewed him 15 years ago for The Reader, at a time when he’d just announced he no longer would play “electric” shows because “he couldn’t imagine playing rock music at age 50.” It was quite a scandal at the time.

Mould explained what was going through his head when he made those statements (His hate of alt rock, his struggle with his sexual identity). We also talked about playing rock music at age 52, the current music industry model, Spotify and why he doesn’t pull his music from the service, where his music sits alongside today’s music, if he’ll ever play Black Sheets of Rain again, what he plans on playing at Maha and what’s in store after Maha, and as an extra bonus, Bob’s take on Barack Obama.

Big Star played to a full house last night, even though that performance was merely a reflection on the big screen.

While waiting for Film Streams to open the door to the screening aud, it felt like being at O’Leaver’s on a Saturday night — lots of familiar faces from the Omaha music scene taking advantage of this one-night-only screening of documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.

And it was quite a film. While always a fan of Big Star, I’ve never researched the band, who’s heyday was back in the early 1970s. The film’s biggest surprise was how much Chris Bell was responsible for the band’s sound on their early records. I guess I always thought it was an Alex Chilton thing, and he definitely was a central figure. Bell’s story provided the film’s tragic undertow, and when they played the single “I Am the Cosmos,” along with the b-side “You and Your Sister,” I discovered where that amazing sound on Number 1 Record really came from.

Anyway, it’s a good flick, and worth checking out on iTunes or Amazon on demand. Hats off to Film Streams for hosting this special night of music and film. Judging by the turn-out, this kind of one-shot music documentary showing could be a hit for them.

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There’s a free show going on tonight at Slowdown Jr. Headlining is San Francisco dream-pop band Mammoth Life. Joining them is Omaha’s own space-rock band Talking Mountain, and 8-bit rockers The Superbytes. The event also is an art show featuring works by CJ Espargo, Anthony Brown, Cassidy Hobbler, The Mock Turtle and Collin Pietz. Get there early and check out the art. The rock starts at 9.

Film Streams is screening the documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me for one night only tonight. It’s describes as “a feature-length documentary film about the dismal commercial failure, subsequent massive critical acclaim, and enduring legacy of pop music’s greatest cult phenomenon.”

While I have no idea if the film is any good, I can vouch for its soundtrack, which lately I listen to more than any other Big Star album, but maybe that’s because it’s their most current compilation. Sayeth the Washington Post: “At times, (the film) can get a little insider-y, especially if you’re uncool enough to have never heard of the band, or if you still don’t know that the Bangles’ popular ‘September Gurls’ was a cover of a Big Star song by Chilton. (And no, it wasn’t a hit for them.) This movie is more for converts than neophytes. But if you’re already a believer, it’s like going to church — one with the world’s most awesome choir and a sermon that’s at once uplifting and a little bit sad.”

Yeah, I know it’s in iTunes and Amazon Instant, but if you have a chance to see it on the big screen, why not?

Screening starts at 7. May want to get your tickets online before you go, here at filmstreams.org. Check out the trailer below:

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Since you’re going to be down there already, you may want to check out Ben Taylor (James & Carly’s son) tonight at Slowdow. Our own Brad Hoshaw is opening (could this be Brad’s big break?). $15, 8 p.m.

First up last night was the screening of The Adventures of Prince Achmed to what looked like a more-than-half-filled crowd at Film Streams. Jake Bellows, Ryan Fox and Ben Brodin set up shop in the first row of the facility’s big auditorium, where amps glowed just under the screen. I’m happy that I remembered to bring earplugs. It was loud. Not painfully loud, but loud for such an enclosed space.

It also was trippy. Very trippy. The images by themselves were a psychedelic head-trip without Bellows & Co’s innovative “score,” which glided between somber ambient tone shifts, electro-dance mantras, space-folk feedback and chord-driven mountain rock. I wouldn’t say the styles seamlessly matched the screen, but most of the time I found myself lost in Achmed’s weird Eastern netherworld filled with wizards and monsters and proud people doing magical things.

BTW, next up in the Silents in Concert series Dec. 1 is the 1966 surf classic The Endless Summer, featuring music by Matteah Baim, whose ’09 album, Laughing Boy (Dicristina Records), got a 7.2 at Pitchfork.

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Next, it was off to beautiful O’Leaver’s for the debut of The Lupines. While writing this before work this morning, I listened to Brimstone Howl’s Big Deal album, trying to ascertain the “differentiators” between that band and this, John Ziegler’s new project. There were obvious similarities, not the least of which was Ziegler’s big-shouldered vocals delivered with its familiar dead-pan snarl on garage rock songs that dwell on the downside of love.

If you like Brimstone, you’ll like Lupines. The real difference (to me) was Mike Friedman’s guitar. Friedman has always been a secret weapon in any band he’s played in — one of Omaha’s best unheralded guitarists. The “unheralded” status may be at risk now that he’s in this band, especially once people hear his freak-out solos and their interplay with Ziegler’s own frenetic guitar style. Holding it together was Iron Mike Tulis’ rock-steady bass lines and Javid Dabestani’s forward-leaning drums.

If anything, The Lupines seem less campy and more punk than Brimstone ever was, and at the same time (ironically) more serious and more refined. For a debut performance, they were tight as tics and sounded ready to enter a studio, but I guess that’s what you’d expect from this band of rock veterans.

Openers, Detroit rockers Gardens, were a by-the-numbers garage band with brief forays into psych rock and a gift for between-song gab. “We just drove from Denver,” said the drummer. “There was nothing to see. Not even any trees. Just cow concentration camps. This next one’s a big kiss for Omaha.” Unfortunately I didn’t see any of the dozen or so people on hand puckering up.

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Busy, busy weekend.

On top of the list tonight is, of course, the Speed! Nebraska 15th Anniversary rock show at The Brothers Lounge, which you read about yesterday. On the bill: Ideal Cleaners, The Wagon Blasters, Domestica, Techlepathy and The Filter Kings. Show starts at 9 and will run you $5. This one should be a hoot.

Also tonight being held at clubs throughout Benson is the OEA Nominee Showcase. The $10 entry fee gets you into The Waiting Room, Burke’s Pub, Benson Grind, The Barley Street Tavern and PS Collective all night. For the full run-down of bands, go to http://oea-awards.com/

Also going on tonight in Benson (but not affiliated with the OEA event) is the Down with the Ship CD EP release show at The Sydney with Arrah and the Ferns (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Bazooka Shootout. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight (but not in Benson) is Ragged Company’s CD release show at The Side Door Lounge. 9 p.m. and absolutely free.

And jeeze… did I almost forget Depressed Buttons are performing down at House of Loom tonight? Brent Crampton opens. $5, 10 p.m.

On Saturday night the decisions become even tougher.

At The Waiting Room, Lonely Estates has its CD release show for their new self-released album The Invertebrate. Lonely Estates is former members of Malpias (minus Greg Loftus) and includes David and Luke Backhaus, Phil Reno, Scott Evans and fronted by Braden Rapp, The album was recorded by AJ Mogis at ARC Studios. I’ve been listening to it off and on for the past couple of weeks and would say its sound is huddled under the same indie rock umbrella as Criteria and Little Brazil. Big, soaring anthems with big, soaring vocals and guitar solos and lots of harmonies. Worth checking out. Opening the show is Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies, New Lungs and Blue Bird. Quite a lineup. $8, 9 p.m.

But…

Over at O’Leaver’s Saturday night it’s the return of Digital Leather — and I’ve never seen a bad O’Leaver’s Digital Leather show. Add to that Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and you’ve got another solid rock bill. $5, 9 p.m.

The following is a public service announcement, as earlier presentations in the Silents in Concert series have sold out, and I have a feeling this one will as well:

Tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Film Streams will be screening The Adventures of Prince Achmed. The 1926 German silent is regarded as the first animated feature-length film and is comprised of papercut silhouettes filmed in stop motion.

The film’s original score was composed by German composer Wolfgang Zeller in direct collaboration with the animation. However, for tomorrow night’s screening, a new original score will be performed live by Jake Bellows (Neva Dinova), Ben Brodin (Before the Toast and Tea, Mal Madrigal) and Ryan Fox (1989 Chicago Cubs, Our Fox, The Good Life).

“We’ll have three electric guitars and rotate on a couple keyboards and trigger a few programmed beats and other odds and ends,” said Fox, who along with Bellows, just arrived in Omaha this week. He and Bellows have worked together in the past as a duo called Breakfast, whose influences have included Brian Eno’s ambient work, Stars of the Lid, Yo La Tengo’s The Sounds of the Sounds of Science, Spacemen 3, The Velvet Underground, Jackie-O Motherfucker and Cluster. Look for those influences during tomorrow night’s performance.

But that’s not the only thing the trio will be doing while Fox and Bellows are in town. “On Saturday, the three of us are going into the studio (ARC) to begin recording 15 or 16 or 17 or 25 tracks to make the first full-length album of Jake’s songs since Neva Dinova’s last album in 2008,” Fox said. If the new music is anything like the two new songs available from Bellows’ website, we’re all in for a treat.

As for tomorrow night’s screening, tickets can be purchased from the Film Streams website: $8 for Film Steams members, $10 for students, and $12 for the general public. Get them while you can.